Arizona Administrative Code
Title 4 - PROFESSIONS AND OCCUPATIONS
Chapter 19 - BOARD OF NURSING
Article 8 - CERTIFIED AND LICENSED NURSING ASSISTANTS AND CERTIFIED MEDICATION ASSISTANTS
Section R4-19-801 - Common Standards for Nursing Assistant (NA) and Certified Medication Assistant (CMA) Training Programs
Universal Citation: AZ Admin Code R 4-19-801
Current through Register Vol. 30, No. 38, September 20, 2024
A. Program Administrative Responsibilities
1. Any person or entity offering a training
program under this Article shall, before accepting tuition from prospective
students, and at all times thereafter, provide program personnel including a
coordinator and instructors, as applicable, who meet the requirements of this
Article.
2. If at any time, a
person or entity offering a training program cannot provide a qualified
instructor for its students, it shall immediately cease instruction and, if the
training program cannot provide a qualified instructor within 5 business days,
the training program shall offer all enrolled students a refund of all tuition
and fees the students have paid to the program.
3. A training program shall obtain and
maintain Board approval or re-approval as specified in this Article and A.R.S
§
32-1650.01(B)
before advertising the program, accepting
any tuition, fees, or other funds from prospective students, or enrolling
students.
4. A training program
that uses external clinical facilities shall execute a written agreement with
each external clinical facility.
5.
A training program that requires students to pay tuition for the program shall:
a. Make all program costs readily accessible
on the school's website with effective dates,
b. Publically post any increases in costs on
the school's website 30 days in advance of the increase;
c. Include in the cost calculation and public
posting, all fees directly paid to the program including but not limited to
tuition, lab fee, clinical fee, enrollment fee, insurance, books, uniform,
health screening, credit card fee and state competency exam fee; and
d. Provide a description of all program costs
to the student that are not directly paid to the program.
6. Before collecting any tuition or fees from
a student, a training program shall notify each prospective student of Board
requirements for certification and licensure including:
a. Legal presence in the United States;
and
b. For licensure, criminal
background check requirements, and ineligibility under A.R.S. §
32-1606(B)(15) and
(16).
7. Within the first 14 days of the program
and before 50% of program instruction occurs, a training program shall transmit
to the Board-approved test vendor, accurate and complete information regarding
each enrolled student for the purposes of tracking program enrollment,
attrition and completion. Upon receipt of accurate completion information, the
vendor shall issue a certificate of completion to the program for each
successful graduate.
8. A training
program shall provide the Board, or its designee, access to all training
program records, students and staff at any time, including during an announced
or unannounced visit. A program's refusal to provide such access is grounds for
withdrawal of Board approval.
9. A
training program shall provide each student with an opportunity to anonymously
and confidentially evaluate the course instructor, curriculum, classroom
environment, clinical instructor, clinical setting, textbook and resources of
the program;
10. A training program
shall provide and implement a plan to evaluate the program that includes the
frequency of evaluation, the person responsible, the evaluative criteria, the
results of the evaluation and actions taken to improve the program. The program
shall evaluate the following elements at a minimum every two years:
a. Student evaluations consistent with
subsection (A)(9);
b. First-time
pass rates on the written and manual skills certification exams for each
admission cohort;
c. Student
attrition rates for each admission cohort;
d. Resolution of student complaints and
grievances in the past two years; and
e. Review and revision of program
policies.
11. A training
program shall submit written documentation and information to the Board
regarding the following program changes within 30 days of instituting the
change:
a. For a change or addition of an
instructor or coordinator, the name, RN license number, and documentation that
the coordinator or instructor meets the applicable requirements of
R4-19-802(B) and
(C) for NA programs and
R4-19-803(B)
for CMA programs;
b. For a change
in classroom location, the previous and new location, and a description of the
new classroom;
c. For a change in a
clinical facility, the name and address of the new facility and a copy of the
signed clinical contract;
d. For a
change in the name or ownership of the training program, the former name or
owners and the new name or owners; and
e. For a decrease in hours of the program, a
written revised curriculum document that clearly highlights new content,
strikes out deleted content and includes revised hours of instruction, as
applicable.
B. Policies and Procedures
1. A training program
shall promulgate and enforce written policies and procedures that comply with
state and federal requirements, and are consistent with the policies and
procedures of the parent institution, if any. The program shall provide
effective and review dates for each policy or procedure.
2. A training program shall provide a copy of
its policies and procedures to each student on or before the first day the
student begins the program.
3. The
program shall promulgate and enforce the following policies with accompanying
procedures:
a. Admission requirements
including:
i. Criminal background, health and
drug screening either required by the program or necessary to place a student
in a clinical agency; and
ii.
English language, reading and math skills necessary to comprehend course
materials and perform duties safely.
b. Student attendance policy, ensuring that a
student receives the hours and types of instruction as reported to the Board in
the program's most recent application to the Board and as required in this
Article. If absences are permitted, the program shall ensure that each absence
is remediated by providing and requiring the student to complete learning
activities that are equivalent to the missed curriculum topics, clinical
experience or skill both in substance and in classroom or clinical
time.
c. A final examination policy
that includes the following provisions;
i.
Require that its students score a minimum 75% correct answers on a
comprehensive secure final examination with no more than one re-take. The
program may allow an additional re-take following documented, focused
remediation based on past test performance. Any re-take examination must
contain different items than the failed exam, address all course competencies,
and be documented with score, date administered and proctor in the student
record; and
ii. Require that each
student demonstrate, to program faculty, satisfactory performance of each
practical skill as prescribed in the curriculum before performance of that
skill on patients or residents without the instructor's presence, direct
observation, and supervision.
d. Student record maintenance policies
consistent with subsection (D) including the retention period, the location of
records and the procedure for students to access to their records.
e. Clinical supervision policies consistent
with clinical supervision provisions of this Section, and:
i.
R4-19-802(C) and
(D) for NA programs, or
ii.
R4-19-803(B)
and (C) for CMA programs;
f. Student conduct policies for
expected and unacceptable conduct in both classroom and clinical
settings;
g. Dismissal and
withdrawal policies;
h. Student
grievance policy that includes a chain of command for grade disputes and
ensures that students have the right to contest program actions and provide
evidence in support of their best interests including the right to a third
party review by a person or committee that has no stake in the outcome of the
grievance;
i. Program progression
and completion criteria.
C. Classroom and clinical instruction
1. During clinical training sessions, a
training program shall ensure that each student is identified as a student by a
name badge or another means readily observable to staff, patients, and
residents.
2. A training program
shall not utilize, or allow the clinical facility to utilize, students as staff
during clinical training sessions.
3. A training program shall provide a clean,
comfortable, distraction-free learning environment for didactic teaching and
skill practice.
4. A training
program shall provide, in either electronic or paper format, a written
curriculum to each student on or before the first day of class that includes a
course description, course hours including times of instruction and total
course hours, instructor information, passing requirements, course goals, and a
topical schedule containing date, time and topic for each class
session.
5. For each unit or class
session the program shall provide, to its students, written:
a. Measurable learner-centered
objectives,
b. An outline of the
material to be taught, and
c. The
learning activities or reading assignment.
6. A training program shall utilize an
electronic or paper textbook corresponding to the course curriculum that has
been published within the previous five years. Unless granted specific
permission by the publisher, a training program shall not utilize copies of
published materials in lieu of an actual textbook.
7. A training program shall provide, to all
program instructors and enrolled students, access to the following
instructional and educational resources:
a.
Reference materials, corresponding to the level of the curriculum;
and
b. Equipment and supplies
necessary to practice skills.
8. A training program instructor shall:
a. Plan each learning experience;
b. Ensure that the curriculum meets the
requirements of this Section;
c.
Prepare written course goals, lesson objectives, class content and learning
activities;
d. Schedule and achieve
course goals and objectives by the end of the course; and
e. Require satisfactory performance of all
critical elements of each skill under
R4-19-802(H)
for nursing assistant and
R4-19-803(D)(4)
for medication assistant before allowing a student to perform the skill on a
patient or resident without the instructor's presence at the bedside.
9. A qualified RN instructor shall
be present at all times and during all scheduled classroom, skills laboratory
and clinical sessions. In no instance shall a nursing assistant or other
unqualified person provide any instruction, reinforcement, evaluation or
independent activities in the classroom or skills laboratory.
10. A qualified RN instructor shall supervise
any student who provides care to patients or residents by:
a. Remaining in the clinical facility and
focusing attention on student learning needs during all student clinical
experiences;
b. Providing the
instructor's current and valid contact information to students and facility
staff during the instructor's scheduled teaching periods;
c. Observing each student performing tasks
taught in the training program;
d.
Documenting each student's performance each day, consistent with course skills
and clinical objectives;
e. During
the clinical session, engaging exclusively in activities related to the
supervision of students; and
f.
Reviewing all student documentation.
D. Records
1. A training program shall maintain the
following program records either electronically or in paper form for a minimum
of three years for NA programs and five years for CMA programs:
a. Curriculum and course schedule for each
admission cohort;
b. Results of
state-approved written and manual skills testing;
c. Documentation of program evaluation under
subsection (A)(10);
d. A copy of
any Board reports, applications, or correspondence, related to the program;
and
e. A copy of all clinical
contracts, if using outside clinical agencies.
2. A training program shall maintain the
following student records either electronically or in paper form for a minimum
of three years for NA programs and five years for CMA programs:
a. A record of each student's legal name,
date of birth, address, telephone number, e-mail address and Social Security
number, if available;
b. A
completed skill checklist containing documentation of student level of
competency performing the skills in
R4-19-802(F)
for nursing assistant, and in
R4-19-803(D)(4)
for medication assistants;
c. An
accurate attendance record, which describes any make-up class sessions and
reflects whether the student completed the required number of hours in the
course;
d. Scores for each test,
quiz, or exam and whether such test, quiz, or exam was retaken; and
e. For NA programs only, a copy of a document
providing proof of legal presence in the United States as specified in A.R.S.
§
41-1080
to be remitted to the Board's designated testing vendor in order to facilitate
timely placement of program graduates on a nursing assistant
registry.
E. Certifying Exam Passing Standard: A training program and each site of a consolidated program under R4-19-802(E) shall attain, at a minimum, an annual first-time passing rate on the manual skill and written certifying examinations that is equal to the Arizona average pass rate for all candidates on each examination minus 20 percentage points. The Board may waive this requirement for programs with less than five students taking the exam during the year. The Board shall issue a notice of deficiency under R4-19-805 to any program with five or more students taking the exam that fails to achieve the minimum passing standard in any calendar year.
F. Distance Learning; Innovative Programs
1. A training program may be offered using
real-time interactive distance technologies such as interactive television and
web based conferencing if the program meets the requirements of this
Article.
2. Before a training
program may offer, advertise, or recruit students for an on-line, innovative or
other non-traditional program, the program shall submit an application for
innovative applications in education under
R4-19-214
and receive Board approval.
G. Site visits: A training program shall permit the Board, and its designee, including another state agency, to conduct an onsite scheduled evaluation for initial Board approval and renewal of approval in accordance with R4-19-804 and announced or unannounced site visits at any other time the Board deems necessary.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Arizona may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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